Pope Francis visits Ukrainian war refugees at Vatican children’s hospital in Rome
- The Vatican said around 50 Ukrainian children in all had passed through the Bambino Gesu hospital since the war with Russia broke out
- Some patients were suffering oncological, neurological and other problems before the crisis and ‘fled in the first days of the war,’ the Vatican said
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Pope Francis on Saturday visited Ukrainian children who have fled the Russian invasion and are being cared for at the Vatican’s paediatric hospital in Rome.
A smiling Francis, 85, reached out to clasp the hands of children as he walked through a ward at the Bambino Gesu hospital in the capital, which is currently treating 19 Ukrainian children.
The Vatican said around 50 children in all had passed through the hospital since the war broke out.
Some were suffering oncological, neurological and other problems before the crisis and “fled in the first days of the war”, it said.
Others were girls with “serious blast wounds” sustained in the clashes, it said.
“Let us pray for them … the children at the ‘Bambino Gesu’ wounded by war,” the pontiff said earlier on Saturday as he addressed a children’s choir.
Pope calls Ukraine invasion ‘armed aggression’
“It is a difficult moment. We, here in Rome, will help them to get better,” he said.
“The blood and tears of children, the suffering of women and men who are defending their land or fleeing from bombardments shakes our conscience,” Francis said in a message to a Church conference in Slovakia on Friday.
